


Bonding with your bird friend (feat. skeletons)

by fraggo



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Arguing, Gen, Giving Up, Skeletons, Twilight Princess, as a generalized idea, bonding in a scary dungeon, good qeustion, good times with good buddies, having to watch footage of someone playing through the scary dungeon, hmmmm, how???, its literally in arbiters grounds, leaving a bird behind in a scary dungeon, realizing that you dont know anything about this scary dungeon, revali being a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 19:17:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10837701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fraggo/pseuds/fraggo
Summary: Revali and Link arrive at Arbiter's grounds. It's filled with skeletons, sand, and ghosts, and Revali is scared of everything.All in all, bad decision on Link's part.





	Bonding with your bird friend (feat. skeletons)

**Author's Note:**

> this got really long and a kind of bad BUT i was so inspired by https://redrosebush.tumblr.com/ !! everyone go check them out they have great art! i hope you enjoy this and i really don't know how they got to arbiter's grounds or anywhere in the tp world but its ok!! (also my arbiters grounds knowledge is also a bit rusty because everytime i try to play through it i just become hopelessly afraid (i was scarred as a child) so i will probably edit this! )

Days with Revali would make anyone a bit mad.

Weeks with Revali would drive them insane.

Months, however? Well, Link was at his last wit with the bird.

He had no respect for him. Generally Revali didn’t have respect for anyone, but when he was with Link it was prominent-- especially with his insults; when he missed a shot he was insulted, when he staggered he was laughed at, when he cooked something that wasn’t up to Revali’s standards the guy refused to eat it. He truly never missed a beat. In the air he was graceful, content, free to fly and spin, and when Link looked on he could forget all that hatred and feel the gentler side to Revali-- the gentle focus that came with aerial fighting. Then, as soon as he landed, Revali’s mouth would open and Link would discard any positive feelings he felt towards him.

Truly, it had felt like years that they had traveled together. In actuality (as Link marked the days off his calendar with fingers crossed, hoping any one of these days would be the one Revali shut up) it had only been a month and two days. He regretted ever going for his divine beast first. 

So when he comes across Arbiter’s grounds he is delighted.

Revali hates the heat. He learns that gradually as they travel through the desert together. Revali also hates sand. He claims that it gets under his wings and messes up his feathers (despite it being a mess when taken out of braids). Revali also has an acute dislike for the undead and what Link has heard from the many kind people he’s met along the way, the Arbiter’s grounds is filled with them. 

After three days of travelling through the desert, three days of constant complaining, three days of heat, they finally make it there.

“Arbiter’s grounds…” He hears Revali hum from behind him as they take in the massive building. 

Link nods in response.

“Now that’s an odd name... Very outlandish,” he squawks as he saunters into the Arbiter’s grounds, not even bothering to peer behind him to see if his team mate follows. Behind him Link heaves a heavy sigh. Clothes disheveled from fighting, hair singed on the ends from almost being burnt alive, he follows the Rito into the dungeon, silently praying that a skeleton will jump out at Revali and he will spontaneously combust (or something along those lines). 

That might be a bit harsh (yet he can’t help but amuse the thought). 

He’s done that a lot these past three days in the desert.

Grumbling, he follows Revali inside, and his senses are immediately attacked. A scent of death creeps along his nose-- not unfamiliar, but also not fully pleasant, and a reminder as to what is within the building. In the distance he can hear movement. Very slight movement, very small movement, but movement that is still very much present. It’s enough to interest him.

He takes one step in, smells dust, and sneezes.

“Shut up,” Revali says in return.

He flips him off and wipes at his nose before pattering down the crumbling steps himself.

“What odd designs,” he hears Revali mumble to himself as they take in the scenery. It looks as if somebody drowned the entire dungeon in sand, stuck spikes into the ground, and called it a day. As he really thinks on it, it looks a bit like a torture dungeon.

Truthfully, it isn’t too bad. 

Or maybe Link has seen worse. Nothing really holds a candle to that odd water temple that the two of them had battled through quite a while back. He had to suffer through water rising and falling, falling and rising, and oh gods, the giant eel that he had to face at the end? Nothing could erase from his memory the horrid screeches the monster produced whenever he stabbed it.

So, really, what’s a bunch of sand, skeletons, and spikes to him?

“There are… things in the sand,” he hears Revali squeak, spinning him out of his thoughts. 

Link shrugs.

Revali slaps at his shoulder, pointing furiously at the sand. Looking closer did in fact reveal things in the sand. Slight wormlike features slithering their way through the ground. He shrugs again, to which Revali spins around on his heel (braids slapping him in the face), and jabs at the figures, much angrier than the first time.

“I have seen normal desert temples drowned in sand and, pardon me, but this is not normal,” he half-whispers-half-yells while stomping his foot on the ground. The thing in the sand grows closer and Link finally notices the scaly skin, sharp teeth, and worm-like features. A molduga-- but much smaller and less threatening. Honestly kind of cute. It jumps out of the sand and Revali shrinks back, voice lowering to a shaky whisper. “How are you so calm?”

On Revali’s palm he signs, “have you not seen a molduga before?” 

“A mol-what?” He spits out. “I’m sorry but I don’t go around throwing myself into danger at every corner.”

“A giant worm,” his hands move quickly. He watches Revali’s face contort as he takes in the information. A small silence befalls them. “These are like those but smaller,” then, after much thought, he signs out, “they can’t hear, only detect movement.” 

Then Revali puffs out a breath of relief.

“Thank the goddesses,” he proclaims loudly, then (with a flourish) kicks the skull of a cow straight into the sinkhole. The skull is promptly sucked up, but the mini-molduga jumps up in response, baring its teeth, and Revali shrinks back.

Link grins, laughs, and signs, “you’re not scared, are you?” 

And Revali huffs, “I never get scared.”

Then promptly walks off the platform, eyes closed, and falls into the sinkhole.

Great.

Halfway through the dungeon he realizes his mistake. 

Okay-- well, two minutes into the dungeon (when Revali screamed for dear life because he encountered one skeleton) he realized his error, but as they cover ground, he it just really sinks in how dumb he was in bringing Revali to this dungeon. 

It embodies everything that Revali truly despises: undead beings, so much sand, heat, and a long period of spending time with Link in enclosed spaces. It wouldn’t be so bad if he weren’t a stubborn asshole.... But he is, so he refuses to go anywhere--- especially with Link. Apparently he brings bad luck upon them.

They’re about an hour in exploring every crevice and cavern of the dungeon when suddenly they saunter upon a room. Big, dark, with four lanterns flanking each side, all lit with an eerie blue flame. Suddenly those flames are snatched up by spirits, one lingering behind, so naturally Link takes the chance to assume wolf form and kill it. 

Like a normal person would do.

The spirit drops to the ground as soon as he digs his teeth into it. He pulls the soul out of it with sharp teeth and feels the spirit writhe underneath him, arms desperately pulling at his ears in an attempt to stop the process. Link just gives one more tug and the soul is ripped out of the body. It doesn’t taste of anything but the texture is hard as a rock and should hurt his teeth yet he feels no pain. With a screech, the power drains out of it as it deflates onto the ground. In a second it has become nothing more than a white robe filled with dust; a quick reminder as to what Link can do.

When he brings his head up to properly gloat and mock Revali, he sees he has fled. 

He never fully realized his mistake in taking Revali anywhere until this moment. This exact moment. 

For a moment he just stands there, looking around the room, his chains crashing to the floor with every head turn. 

Then he hears Revali scream like a small child and follows that sound into the room they were in before. As the door opens up he is greeted with the sight of Revali whacking a skeleton with his bow. It’s ineffective, needless to say. 

For a few minutes he just watches as Revali struggles around the room in an offbeat dance with a skeleton-- a waltz of sorts, where Revali is leading (and desperately hitting) and the skeleton follows. They don’t touch hands until the skeleton lays one bony, delicate finger upon Revali’s feathers, and that’s when the Rito decides to actually notch an arrow (a flame arrow to be exact) and shoot at it. 

The skeleton explodes in a display of flames and bones and Revali laughs-- scared at first, then mocking, then he sounds crazy, and then Link is so done with everything that he barks at Revali’s back.

“Oh,” his laughing immediately stops. In fact, he sounds a bit embarrassed. From where Link is he can see Revali’s feathers fluff around him. “Hello, Link. I’m guessing you just witnessed me absolutely demolish this skeleton.”

Slowly, Link shakes his head, switching back to his human form.

“Well that is what happened.”

Link shakes his head. Revali nods, then Link shakes his head once again, and the Champion grimaces at him before turning away, arms crossed like a defiant child. 

A silence falls over them. All that is heard is the sand slowly, methodically moving.

He is still staring when Revali decides to look at him.

“What?” Revali finally asks.

“Aren’t you coming any further?” 

Amused, he answers, “no.”

Face twisted painfully, he signs, “must you be difficult?” 

Revali smiles and answers, “yes.”

So Link moves on, leaving the squawking Revali behind in that dark room. He has things to do. Consoling Revali is not one of them. 

Pretending not to notice the skeleton staggering towards Revali, he leaves the room.

Of course (as he works through the dungeon) he won’t deny that Revali’s gale would definitely be helpful, and maybe an extra hand to take down these skeletons would be nice, but he’s not about to go crawling back to that asshole, so he continues on. With every ghost he kills their lanterns float back to the main room. Sometimes he crosses between sides of the prison. When he does he sees Revali. 

Revali, feathers unkempt, bow looking worse for wear, sitting on the ground like a sad child.

It’s a laughable sight. Sometimes he takes pictures of it, saves them to his album, and really thinks on how adequately he uses the space in his slate. 

With every lantern light that floats back, Revali looks more and more unnerved. Finally it’s his last trip through the room (or at least he hopes so) when Revali grabs at his arm with a vice grip.

“Link,” Revali grits out. Link blinks, then looks up at him in question. “Where are you heading next?” 

“Another part of the dungeon,” he signs vaguely, then tugs his wrist back and continues on through the dirt and grime of the dungeon. This time, though, he hears Revali behind him, pattering after his figure. Without looking back he signs, “what do you want?” 

“I am joining you!” He proclaims. Link continues walking. A strangled puff of air worms its way out of Revali’s throat as he continues to follow. 

“You can’t leave me behind like this!” Revali calls after him. “I am a highly esteemed warrior among the Rito--” A sound akin to Revali tripping is heard. Still walking, Link does not look back, just heaves open doors and wades through sand. Revali is still following him. “I am an important asset to this mission!” He chokes out. “I am more useful than you any day. With my skills in archery I can surely best an entire army of weird skeletons--”

Cutting him off is the sound of beetles, skittering in a horde through the sand towards them. He knows them to be poison mites-- completely harmless. If anything just a bit tickly and obnoxious, so he hops onto the closest platform.

Revali screams (more like screeches, the sound rivaling any other screech he’s heard), and skitters onto the platform next to him, almost knocking them both off in a flurry of feathers and curses. 

Link blinks. Once. Then twice. Then his face splits into a smirk and he signs, “are you scared?” 

Revali’s feathers ruffle up a storm. With a voice higher pitched than normal, he says, “no! Do you really think bugs scare me?”

Link nods. As one of the beetles crawls onto the platform (and Revali jumps back) he squishes it with his heel, digging into the ground. A sickening crunch makes his companion flinch. 

“Well, they do not!” Revali claims hoarsely as soon as he’s regained breath. “Really, you believe a Champion to be scared of a bunch of bugs? I have dedicated countless hours to training my already perfect skills. Skills of the sky, of archery, of my beast--” Link snaps his fingers in front of his face and Revali jumps into the air, squawking.

He smirks as Revali glares at him.

“Just continue with your journey,” he hisses, venom sliding off of his tongue.

So Link does just that. 

...

It can’t get worse is what he thinks to himself. In no way can Revali become more useless and increasingly annoying. But he’d done it.

He really had outdone himself. 

Just moments later the two of them stumble across the door Link had been attempting to locate for hours. A miniboss. 

That’s just the way these dungeons worked. They were large, harrowing, and hard to navigate through compared to the ones back in his Hyrule. Every one of them had a mini boss in the middle and a boss at the end. By now it was just second nature. This is where he had tracked the miniboss to.

He heaves the door open and lets Revali saunter in first, with his head thrown into the air, beak high, before he follows. Silently he’s hoping the miniboss bats him aside and Link doesn’t have to deal with him for the rest of the day. The door closes with a slam behind them.

Then, with another slam, bars fall over it, trapping them.

“No,” Revali simply says, backing into the door. Link watches as he paws at it. He won’t deny that he’s amused at the sight.

Then he takes in what lays in the middle of the room. A sword. A giant sword, to be exact. Larger than any others he’s seen.

“No,” Revali repeats, this time smacking the bars with his bow. 

“Is that not a divine weapon?” He signs. 

“Is that not a divine weapon,” Revali mocks in a higher pitched voice. He continues whacking at the bars. 

Link sighs and steps further into the room. It’s too dark for him to properly see into with these eyes. The darkness is stifling, the air no better, and it smells of dirt and blood and death so badly that Link pinches his nose to avoid the smell. He takes in the sword in front of him, stuck into the ground, tied with rope. On the ropes there are small pieces of paper. A look closer (and light from his lantern) reveals them to be wards.

Shrugging, he takes his sword and slices through one. 

“NO!” Revali yells-- louder this time, his hand flying out to stop Link. 

Then the sword glows, a dull red glow in the dark room. At this Revali’s hand drops, bathed in red light. 

The sword continues to glow, each time more prominent than the last, until the light is filling up the room with a sickly sweet red. He senses it before it appears. A ghost. A powerful one, to be specific. The sword swings out of the rubble in a mess of shadows, fog, dust, and bugs, striking the ground in front of Link twice before assuming a combat position. It drags along the ground, metal meeting stone in a steady screech that grows louder as the spirit wielding it picks up pace, and he immediately knows what to do.

He’s in wolf form and forgets about everything else in the room. Combat now, everything else can wait.

Yet, as he hops around the room with light feet, he can still hear Revali smacking at the door. It’s fast, it’s rhythmic, and it doesn’t stop.

Revali, especially, can wait.

At his change the spirit brings down its sword in a devastating crash. Rubble flies everywhere, smacking at his face. He goes for the neck as soon as this happens, launching himself at the spirit. He can’t make any features out. Just spiralled ram horns and a ghostly essence-- honestly, that’s enough for him. The beast barely has enough time to bring the heavy sword down upon him before he’s ravaging his neck with sharpened fangs. After several tugs and struggles, the spirit screeches, dropping its sword, and is pulled into the mortal world, and at that he transforms back into his human form.

Here he takes notice of all the horrible features of the ghostly beast. Thin as a stick with giant robes. The ram horns spiralling around its head seem to be made of skin-- skin which is withered and white, spotted with grey, and melting all around. It gives a mighty scream that deafens Link for a second. Its breath smells of death. 

Revali screams back. It’s a bit less intimidating and sounds more like that of a scared little girl.

He reaches up for the master sword but finds it gone. Frantically, he paws at his clothes, then looks back to find Revali smacking the door with it. 

“What are you doing?!” He signs frantically, just barely jumping out of the way of the creature’s sword. Revali blinks at him.

“Getting us out of here!” He yells back, still whacking the door. “The door broke my priceless weapon, so I borrowed yours.”

“The master sword is more important than your dumb bow--” A crash.

“Well, some of us shouldn’t leave their important weapons lying on the ground. What have we learnt today?” Revali spits.

Crash.

The sword just barely misses him. 

“Do something useful!” He returns to signing, dodging a blow with a quick roll to the side. 

“I am doing something useful! I am always useful!” Revali shoots back. “Seriously, have you not seen me. I am the pinnacle of useful. It’s you that should be killing this thing--” He whacks once more at the bars (which have actually started to bend), and just like that, the master sword splits in two in Revali’s hands. For a beat Revali just stares down at it, eyes wide and dark and scared. Then he turns to Link with a nervous smile playing on his face. 

In his hands lay two parts of the master sword. 

Link stares back. His mouth form around words, his hands itch to sign, but he just can’t bring himself to do anything. As soon as it realizes that Link is distracted, the ghost swings the sword into his side, knocking him into a pillar. It’s sure to bruise. A lot.

The last thing he hears is Revali worriedly squawking, then he’s in feathered arms, then he’s hoisted into the air, then he passes out. 

Let it be known that his last conscious thought is of how much he hates Revali.

...

He wakes up in Arbiter’s grounds. He’s lying on the dusty, dirty, death smelling floor, head propped up on a pile of clothes, tucked in neatly with a blanket, and he hurts. He hurts more than he wants to admit. 

He sits himself up after gaining his bearings. Yellow walls, yellow sand, yellow lights. He looks down to find bandages on his body, sticky with blood, gooey with medicine, and wrapped haphazardly by someone who has no idea what they’re doing. He laughs at the image that pops up into his head of Revali dressing his wounds with fumbly fingers. 

He rips them off.

The cold air hits his wounds and he winces at the pain of it all-- the pain which seems pathetic when compared to what he’s been through in the past--, then realizes exactly where he is. Just outside of the room he had last gone in. The room where he had been knocked out. The room where Revali had broken the master sword.

Oh, shit. 

He pulls himself up, ignoring the pain in his side, and hobbles towards the door. Without his sword and shield he must look pathetic, but he has a bow-- he has a way to beat this thing. He will beat this thing if it kills him. The first steps are a bit wonky, but he manages to use the wall as a crutch, and as soon as he nears the door, it shuts on him. For a second he thinks the gods hate him, then he looks up and finds Revali blocking the door, and he knows the gods hate him. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Revali asks. His voice is too much after waking up. Too smug, too annoying, too… Revali. 

“Going.” 

His companion sneers at him, “in there again? To fight that thing?” Link nods and tries to push past him again, only to be blocked. “Humorous, especially considering I already beat it on my lonesome,” he sticks his beak high into the air, a pleased smile on his face, to which Link furrows his eyebrows at. “To think you almost died because of it. To think I was even the tiniest bit scared of it. To think this was even a challenge to you.”

Link gapes at him.

“Oh, and,” without warning, Revali throws something big and heavy and full of gears at him. He barely manages to catch it. “He dropped this. I have no need for it. I can fly,” with a smirk, he adds, “unlike you.” 

On closer examination it seems to be a transportation machine of sorts. He pokes at it, spinning the wheels of it, and smiles. A spinner, then.

Interesting.

“You’re welcome,” Revali preens as soon as he notices the smile.

When Link looks up he sees that Revali’s feathers are ruffled in a way that does not happen when he’s scared. He coughs when Link notices, flippantly waving his hand at him.

“Now put on a shirt, your bruises remind me of your failures,” then he saunters off, leaving Link with the spinner, his clothes, and a world full of questions.

Did Revali just gift him something?

He looks down at the spinner. It actually looks useful to his travels. Then he realizes what he just thought. Something that Revali gave him? Useful to his travels? He sticks his middle finger up at Revali’s retreating form.

He really does hate Revali.


End file.
